Month: March 2010

Getting ready for work this morning so I have limited time to type, but I just had to type a brief post saying how proud I am of my government today.  Finally, America has caught up with the other civilized countries of the world by guaranteeing its citizens affordable, quality health care.

During this debate, I’ve refrained from bashing the “tea baggers” on my blog, because I know some of them personally – they own small businesses, and therefore see this from a perspective I cannot.  I disagree with their opinion but respect how they feel.

Still though, I feel this change had to happen.  And I’m glad it did.

YES WE DID.

It’s time for a new “Brick” Quote of the Week, but I don’t have one.  So instead, you get the “Brick” Joke of the Week.

Q:  What do you call it when Katie (pictured below) bends over too far when she’s picking up glasses?

A:  Exposed Brick.

The Memphis Zombie Massacre is returning May 28.  That’s a South Main Trolley Tour night as well.  Search for the event “Memphis Zombie Massacre 2010” on Facebook for more information on how you can join the zombie march.

Ah a good afternoon… took a long walk around Downtown, got invited to what sounds like a cool party tonight.  Gonna play a freeroll or two on PokerStars then go out around 7.

Great article about John Calipari on Slate.  Check it out.

I ended up going bowling with friends last night downstairs at Primetime.  I have to admit, it was a lot of fun!  About 15 of us were there, and we had 3 lanes.  They had pitchers of several domestic beers for $5.  I, of course, went for the PBR.  Bartender was super nice and so was the guy running the lanes.  It was a last-minute decision to go, but I really enjoyed it.

The best game I ever bowled, a 152, occurred when I was drunk out of my mind.  That strategy didn’t seem to work last night, as there were zeroes all over my scorecard.  PBR didn’t seem to help.  If I remember correctly the 152 happened after several hurricanes at Silky’s.  Maybe next time I’ll make that my starting point.

I do owe my friends Steve and Alexis an apology for not making it to their goodbye party…  after God knows how much PBR, I knew there was no way I could stumble to South Main and back.  So I stumbled home instead, with a stop at Bardog where I had the pleasure of talking to chef Patrick Rose.  Hopefully I’ll stop in there Sunday for a meal.

Oh and as I stumbled past an alley on Second Street, a certain douchebaguette who wants to be JWoww when she grows up told me to f*** off.  Thanks for buying me a beer Monday night!  Have fun roasting yourself in the tanning bed until your skin turns the color of a turkey on Thanksgiving.

Damn DowntownMemphis.com got hacked!  I was going to go there to view their calendar and post a few recommendations for tonight.  Guess that won’t be happening.

Playing a $5.50 NL Hold’em tournament on PokerStars as I type this… trying out more small ball strategies.  Don’t forget to check out my poker blog if you’re into the game.  No idea what I’ll be doing tonight, but it’s too nice out to stay home

Wednesday night, we ended up at Kooky Canuck to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.  Here are some pics.

Joe and Lana.  LOVE the Mountain Dew shirt.

The corned beef and cabbage I had for dinner.  There was so much of it that I couldn’t eat it all, which led to the next photo…

The Nuh-Uh Girl asked, “Are you going to finish that?”  Here’s a pic of her eating the rest of my food.

Here’s another pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating.

And another.

Shawn, distracted by his phone, fails to notice that the Nuh-Uh Girl is eating his food.

Finally, someone else gets to eat!

It’s Saturday morning and I’m clearing the cobwebs from last night out of my head.  Will post more later.

If you’re reading this blog from out of town and have never had a chance to see the Peabody Hotel in person, you can now take their virtual tour. They just added the rooftop, duck palace, and memorabilia room to the tour.

Should be a crowded night Downtown. In addition to the John Mayer show at the Orpheum, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs at the Orpheum tonight. If you’re driving Downtown tonight, better get here as early as possible, and if you pay to park, make sure you’re paying a legit parking attendant and not a bum. Our favorite parking scammer picked up two more criminal trespass citations for parking cars on the Tri-State Bank lot at Main and Beale this week.

Alvin Ailey, by the way, will be at the Orpheum tomorrow and Sunday as well.

If you like Starbucks, mark down March 23 on your calendar. From 5 to 10:30 AM, they’ll give you a free pastry when you purchase one of their hand-crafted beverages. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

My plans for tonight: Well, the Memphis-Ole Miss game is on at 5:30… the Saucer seems like a fine place to watch it. After the game I’ll head south to where two friends are having a goodbye party. The invitation said, let’s send them off Memphis style, which does not mean begging them for 58 cent, waving them into a parking space, or shooting them; but rather, beer and BBQ (and Air Traffic Mike’s gumbo, I’ve been told). Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up. Plans after that to be determined, but it looks to be a beautiful night with no chance of rain. I may have to pace myself on the beer and make it a late one. Tomorrow’s not looking half bad either. Sunday, on the other hand, looks like a cold rainy mess; I may take Sunday totally off and just play poker.

Eating a messy but good pork sandwich from River City Bar-b-Que as I type this. Time to finish lunch and get back to work… happy weekend!

Had a pretty good St. Pat’s Day last night… I started at the Saucer, where the “PBR of Ireland,” Harp, was on Fire Sale for $2.75. Saucer was packed with St. Patrick’s Day partiers and with people on the way to the NIT game at the FedExForum. Later I headed to Bardog with Air Traffic Mike and the Nuh-Uh Girl, and after that we met up with more friends at Kooky Canuck, where I had some EXCELLENT corned beef and cabbage. I’ve been wanting some for the past week, and I’m glad I had it at Kooky. I have pics of my meal, and of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating, in my camera. Will post them sometime in the next few days.

While at the Saucer, I ran into Pam, who was pictured in my recap of the River City Brewers Fest. She was the one who poured out beer. Last night she expressed genuine remorse, and she seemed to understand how wrong her action was. So I reduced her probation from 60 days to 30 days.

Got more info on the I Love Memphis party which will happen at South of Beale on Monday, March 22 from 5 to 7. The party is being thrown by Kerry who writes the I Love Memphis Blog. There will be $4 wells, $3 drafts, $4 happy hour wine, and a $3 special “I Love Memphis” cocktail. There will also be a giant cake provided by West Side Cakes. Check Kerry’s blog or follower on Twitter at @ilovememphis for updates. Free cake? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Bardog Tavern is stepping it up even more in the kitchen… they recently added John Pearson, formerly of Flight and Stella, and Patrick Rose, formerly of Pat O’s, to their staff. Executive Chef Demitrie Phillips will have his lobster sandwich featured in the April issue of Midsouth Magazine. That sandwich is fantastic – if you haven’t made it by there for weekend brunch, you need to go!

If you didn’t catch the news this morning, I’m sad to report that a Memphis music legend has died. Alex Chilton passed away yesterday. With the Box Tops, he had an international #1 hit with “The Letter” in 1967, and later he gained a reputation as a singer/songwriter/guitarist with Big Star.

Congrats to the Memphis Tigers on their NIT victory over St. John’s last night. The Tigers travel to Ole Miss Friday for a 5:30 game vs. the Rebels. Tickets are $10 and are now on sale. Call the Ole Miss ticket office at (888) 732-8587 or go to olemisssports.com.

WREG is offering $50 in Cordelia’s Table gift certificates for $25 – click here to get the savings.

Eating food from the Indian cafe on American Way as I type this.  I checked in there on Foursquare.  Someone checked into the apartment complex next door and named it “Ghetto Ass Apartments.”  That’s all for now… may take a night off tonight, to rest up for the weekend.

Our trivia team had a disappointing fifth-place finish last night, despite missing only four questions. One of the bonus questions asked us to name three elements ending with the letter “e.” “If Brick were here,” someone commented, “she’d guess ‘saltine.'”

Got the word from one more restaurant about St. Patrick’s Day specials. South of Beale will have $3 drafts and $4 Guinness all night long. They’ll have a special dinner entree of Steamed Mussels with Benton’s Bacon and Guinness broth, and for dessert, something called “Irish Car Bomb Pie.” I think my friend Air Traffic Mike may find a new favorite dessert tonight if he heads down there.

Check back for upcoming news on an “I Love Memphis” party happening at South of Beale next Monday.

One more St. Pat’s special: Bardog Tavern just tweeted that they will have McSorley’s beer cheese soup and lamb stew today.

A reminder: MPACT Memphis is having a “meet the new MPACT” event at their office at 506 S. Main tomorrow night, Thursday March 18. Meet the board, staff, and volunteers, and check out the new Voice of MPACT survey. Cocktails, finger foods, and networking at 6; presentations at 7.

Have you had your H1N1 shot yet? If not, you can get one for free at the Grizzlies game on Saturday, when they play the Golden State Warriors. You’ll be entered to win free prizes when you get your shot. More details here.

Here’s a pic I found online of two Downtown bartenders: Meghan watches as Brittney eats ice cream on a stick.

Christine Shelton has revealed the name of her new clothing store, next door to the Center for Southern Folklore on Main: CHRISTINE by Shelton Clothiers.

The Beale Street Pub Crawl for St. Pat’s Day happens tonight. I’ve heard that Silky’s has a very large reservation around 7 PM, so you might want to have a backup plan if you were thinking Silky’s in the early evening.

Of course, tonight is also the first-round NIT game, Memphis Tigers vs. St. John’s Red Storm at the FedExForum, 8 PM. If you’re not going to the game, and watching it on TV is your priority more than celebrating St. Pat’s, then my recommendation would be Calhoun’s Sports Bar on GE Patterson. However, the game is on ESPN2 (“ESPN jr.” as my friend Mikey calls it), so you should be able to view the game at any bar that has cable.

I want some corned beef and cabbage… Saucer has it today, so that will be the first stop after work. After that, wherever the evening takes me, I’ll go. I have to remember to put on green before I go out, so I won’t get pinched. Then again, if the Saucer girls pinch me I might like it. Happy St. Pat’s everyone!

The Memphis Google Fiber site is now up and running. Check them out and help our city get affordable super-high-speed Internet access!

Stay tuned for an announcement on Wednesday of the name of Christine Shelton’s new women’s clothing store. Christine, of course, is the wife of Tom Shelton of Shelton Clothiers. Christine’s new shop will be on the Main Street Mall between Circa and the Center for Southern Folklore.

Got updates on what a couple of Downtown’s bars will be doing for St. Patrick’s Day. The Flying Saucer will have Irish beer specials, and food specials include Shepherd’s Pie, Corned Beef & Cabbage, and Beef & Guinness. Irish dancers will perform at 7:30, and the Gallowglass Pipers at 8:30. No green beer!

Meanwhile, down the street at Kooky Canuck, there will be a special Irish menu. They’ll have potato skins as a special appetizer. Sandwiches will include a reuben and an open-faced roast beef with Guinness gravy. For entrees, they’ll have shepherd’s pie and corned beef anc cabbage, and sides will include Colcannon potatoes and Irish stew. For dessert: Irish bread pudding, and Irish apple crisps. $2 34 oz. Bud Light all day (which I think will be green, if I remember readhing the sign correctly) and $5 car bombs.

If you know of other St. Pat’s specials Downtown, e-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll do my best to post.

Seen on Twitter this morning: Memphis was mentioned on the Today Show as the nation’s #4 city making a recovery in the recession. Nice to see good things about Memphis in the national news!

My Comcast Internet at home is still down, so I’m leaving work a little early to get it serviced. Hopefully I’ll make it to trivia tonight.

It’s the week of St. Patrick’s Day, and restaurants around Downtown are having Irish specials. The Majestic Grille will have specials all week long, including lunch specials of beef and Guinness pie, fish and chips, and a Reuben sandwich. For dinner, specials will include a filet mignon with Jameson whisky and green peppercorn sauce, and stuffed trout with bacon and spinach stuffing. Mmmm bacon.

I know other restaurants and bars around town will have specials the day of St. Pat’s. I have pics on my camera of specials at Kooky Canuck and the Flying Saucer… didn’t bring the camera to work with me though. If I have working Internet when I get home I’ll post them. If you know of other St. Pat’s specials Downtown, shoot me an e-mail at paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll post them.

The Majestic is also having a special menu for people attending South Pacific at the Orpheum. $24.95 3-course menu, reservations recommended. First course is a choice of Majestic Greens, Mixed Caesar, or a cup of soup. Entree is a choice of grilled flatiron steak, sauteed gulf shrimp, or baked trout. Dessert is a choice of key lime pie, strawberry shortcake, tiramisu, lemon cheesecake, chocolate mousse, or carrot cake. Call 522-8555 for reservations.

Tonight’s Pint Nite, so after work I’ll be enjoying a few pints with my friends Dennis and Mary Pat at the Saucer. Dennis and Mary Pat asked me to blog how nice it is that the Saucer now has a Bama grad, Jill, working as a server there, and how glad they are that she didn’t go to a school that sucks, like Ole Miss. I asked Jill if she’d met Saucer regular/Bama grad Moody yet. She hadn’t. “You’re going to have an instant new best friend when you do,” I told Jill.

Speaking of Ole Miss… if Memphis and Ole Miss both win their first-round NIT games, they will meet in the second round. I’m assuming that game would be played at Ole Miss, since they are the higher seed. Fine with me if that’s the case… Ole Miss fans are the worst in college sports and I’d be just as happy if they stayed the hell out of Downtown Memphis.

Opening round game is at the FedExForum, Wednesday at 8 PM, the Tigers hosting the St. John’s Red Storm. Full NIT bracket is here.

Silly Goose opens for lunch starting today. $5 flatbreads, all-you-can-eat salad bar.

Air Traffic Mike and I had a great time giving our favorite parking scammer the runaround yesterday. He was trying to go on the Tri-State Bank lot, run by Premier Parking, at Main and Beale, but he saw us watching and knew we’d call the cops (he’s criminally trespassing if he’s caught there). “He’s looking at that lot like a crackhead looks at a rock,” commented ATM. The scammer eventually gave up, cussing ATM out as he walked down the street, and stopping by the Saucer window to flip me off. What would Sunday Fun Day be without the bums to entertain us?

Don’t forget about poker at the Silly Goose (7:30 and 11:30) and trivia at Local (8:00) tonight.  That’s all for now… outta here.